The Bengali Fitna was the start of a major civil war amongst the nobles in Bengal, who each sought to overthrow the Ilyas Shahi dynasty and establish their own rule over the land.

The origin of the civil war was largely due to the success of the Nepali and Vijaynagari Revolt, and the failure of Hindustan to prevent Deccan, Gujarat, Burma and Jaunpur from declaring independence. Realizing that the Ilyas Shahi dynasty no longer held any power, nobles particularly Hindus throughout Bengal revolted against them. Soon, a major civil war had started with hundreds of warlord states established throughout Bengal and the Ilyas Shahi desperately clinging to power. The war saw states such as Vijaynagar and Jaunpur intervening to aid their own respective proxy groups and left a power vacuum in India, with Bengal having fallen.

By 1810, a Jaunpuri Prince, Mahmud Ashraf Shah had managed to unite much of Bengal and defeated the incumbent Sultan, Jehangir Sarfaraz Shah at the battle of Chittagong. He led various campaigns throughout the nation and defeated the remaining warlord states one after another, securing the safety and integrity of Bengal and establishing his own rule over the Sultanate of Bengal.